Gun deaths among U.S. children and teens rose 50% in two years
The number of children and teens killed by gunfire in the United States increased 50% between 2019 and 2021, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the latest annual mortality statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, there were 1,732 gun deaths among U.S. children and teens under the age of 18. By 2021, that figure had increased to 2,590.
The gun death rate among children and teens – a measure that adjusts for changes in the nation’s population – rose from 2.4 fatalities per 100,000 minor residents in 2019 to 3.5 per 100,000 two years later, a 46% increase.
Both the number and rate of children and teens killed by gunfire in 2021 were higher than at any point since at least 1999, the earliest year for which information about those younger than 18 is available in the CDC’s mortality database.
In the wake of a fatal school shooting in Tennessee on March 27, Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to find out how gun deaths among U.S. children and teens have changed in recent years. Gun deaths include homicides, suicides, accidents and all other categories where firearms are listed on death certificates as the underlying cause of death. Children and teens are defined as those under the age of 18, while adults are defined as those ages 18 and older.
Data on the annual number and rate of gun deaths among children and teens comes from the WONDER database of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Crude rates, rather than age-adjusted rates, are used in this analysis because age-adjusted rates are not available when analyzing those under the age of 18. Black, White and Asian children and teens include only those who are single-race and not Hispanic; Hispanic children and teens include those who are of any race.
This analysis also includes data on the estimated number of nonfatal gun injuries sustained by children and teens. This information is drawn the CDC’s WISQARS database, which relies on information collected from a representative sample of U.S. hospitals.
- Erica Pandey, author of Axios Finish Line
The number of U.S. kids dying by gunfire keeps rising.
Stunning stat: Gun deaths among America’s kids rose 50% in the last two years, according to a new Pew Research Center report. More children and teens were killed by guns in 2021 than in any year since 1999, the first year the CDC began tracking the data.
What's happening: While the majority of adult gun deaths are by suicide, children and teens killed by gunfire are more likely to die by homicide (60%).
- And 2022 marked the most violent year in schools — with 46 shootings — since 1999, The Washington Post reports. The most recent shooting took four lives at the Covenant School in Nashville two weeks ago.
Zoom out: The rise in child and teen firearm deaths mirrors the overall increase in gun deaths in America, Pew notes.
- There were 48,830 gun deaths among Americans in 2021. That was up 23% from 2019 and the highest yearly total on record.
The big picture: America's life expectancy has been falling in recent years, from 79 in 2019 to 76 in 2021, driven by the pandemic, the rise of gun violence and drug overdoses.
- Compare that to the life expectancy of 83 in Australia and 80 in Britain.
But older adults in America have similar life expectancies to their counterparts in other wealthy countries, per the Financial Times.
- The high number of young deaths in the U.S. is bringing the country's overall life expectancy down.
Consider this: One in 25 American kindergartners won't make it to their 40th birthday.
What to watch: The data is alarming American parents from coast to coast. 45% of U.S. parents said they were somewhat or extremely worried about their kids getting shot, according to another recent Pew survey.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to show 45% of U.S. parents said they were somewhat or extremely worried about their kids getting shot, according to a recent Pew survey, not 55%.
Go deeper
At least four people killed, nine injured in Louisville shooting
Law enforcement officers respond to an active shooter near the Old National Bank building on April 10 in Louisville, Kentucky. Photo: Luke Sharrett/Getty Images
At least four people are dead and nine others were injured, including three who are in critical condition, after a shooting at a bank Monday in Louisville.
The latest: LMPD released the names Monday afternoon of the four individuals who lost their lives in the massacre: Joshua Barrick, 40; Thomas Elliot, 63; James Tutt, 64; and Juliana Farmer
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